Turns Out Parents Are More Dedicated To Their Jobs Than Employees Without Kids

Work means more once you become a parent

Family may come first for most parents, but work plays an integral role in our lives. More so than previously thought, it turns out. While balancing careers and home lives can be mentally and emotionally draining, that doesn’t mean working parents focus less on their jobs — a new survey shows it’s employees who are also moms and dads that show the most dedication.

Research firm Great Place to Work surveyed 400,000 employees and determined that work means more to parents, who displayed a stronger dedication to their jobs compared to their co-workers without kids. For example, nine out of 10 parents said they plan to stay with their companies long-term. Additionally, 88 percent of moms and 87 percent of dads said they viewed their roles at work as more than “just a job.” Moms and dads overall were five and six times more likely to stay long-term with their company when they said their work makes a difference.

You know who probably isn’t surprised by this information? Working parents. You know why? Because we crave stability, damn it, and we’ve got responsibilities. Remember when life before kids was all “Oh well, I’ll just let them shut off my phone for a couple of weeks until I get paid again.” LOL. Yeah, we can’t really have that attitude now.

I used to work in a few different corporate atmospheres, and let me tell you — the misconceptions surrounding working parents was astounding. For moms in particular, because if we’re not catching the brunt of something, are we even really moms? “There she goes, leaving right at 5 on the nose, clocking out while the rest of us are still here finishing our work.” I’m very much a Type B person so I always rolled my eyes at The Workplace Martyrs, but that prevalent attitude leads me to believe employees and employers who aren’t parents would probably be surprised by the results of this survey.

Bottom line: collecting a regular paycheck becomes unfathomably important once you have children. Caring about your job becomes essential. Suddenly you’ve got little people relying on you to feed them, clothe them, house them, and ensure their overall health and wellbeing are sustained. It’s difficult to think of anything more motivating than that.